Projectile



I (NoModeU W. H. BELL.

PROJEGTILB.

No. 579,035 Patented Mar. 16,1187.

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A CJG-Gglf' j fi UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

NVILIAM Il. BELT., OF Tlllil UNITED STATES Althll".

PROJECTILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,035, dated March 16, 1897. Application filed June 11,1896. Serial No. 595,182. (No model.)

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Beit known that I, NVILLIAM II. BELL, lieutenant-colonel, assistant commissary-general of subsistence, United States Army, a citizen of the United States, stationed at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Proj ectiles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to improvements in projectiles; and itconsists in providing an elongated projectile adapted to be fired from a sinootlrbore gun and certain means for imparting a rotary motion to the said projectile whereby it may be lrept steady on its axis during its iiight and prevented from those errors due to what is technically known as tumbling and whereby its motion may be accelerated after leaving the gun.

rlhe said invention consists of certain novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which the same parts are indicated by the same letters throughout the several views.

Figure l represents a central vertical section through the axis of the projectile and showing the plugin the breech thereof in elevation. Fig. 2 represents a section along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 represents a rear view of the projectile as seen from the right of Fig. l.

A represents the body of the projectile, which is provided with two chambers A and A2, separated from each by a wall of metalof sufeient thickness. In the front chamber A the bursting charge B, made of powder or other suitable explosive, is placed,which powder is exploded with the fuse D, of any ordinary or suitable construction, screwed either into the serew-thread d' at the front end of the projectile or into a bushing provided for the purpose, as may be preferred.

The rear chamber A2 is preferably made ogival in shape, as shown in Fig. l, with the shoulder CL2 provided at the front end of the plug E. The rear end of this chamber A2 is surrounded by the hollow cylindrical portion A3 of the projectile. The plug E iits in this portion Ag, and the front end bears against the shoulder a2. The chamber A2111 front of the face of this plug E is filled with rocketpowder or other slow-burning powder C.

The plug F. is provided with spiral grooves e, which grooves maybe either eut on the outside of the plug or bored in through the body of the same, as may be preferred. These grooves may be either of a uniform or increasing twist, as desired. Over the front face of the plug and covering over t-hese grooves and preventing the powder G from passing through the grooves in handling the projectile I provide a disk G, of paper or any other suitable material pervious to the fire for the explosion of the cartridge in the gun. The plug E may be held in place in any convenient way-such, for instance, as the plate F, which is slotted radially around its periphery to permit the passage through the grooves e. The sides of these radial slots are preferably cut away at an angle, as shown at fo, so that the escaping gases may continue out through the grooves unimpeded. This plate F is secured to the projectile and to the plug by means of the screwsf. The said plate should preferably be made of low steel having sufficient resiliency to stand the shock of discharge; or instead of the plate F, constructed as shown, bolts 7.o may be passed through the plug and through the walls A5, inelosing the saine, having their heads 7s countersunk, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. l and 2, in which case the plate F may be omitted, or the said plate may be used in combination with one or more of the said bolts. In the operation of the device when the gun is iired the gases from the charging in the gun blow through the grooves e and burst the plate or paper G and ignite the slowburning powder C, the gases from which immediately begin to escape through the grooves e, imparting a gradually-increasing rotary motion to the projectile. The escape of. these gases also reacts upon the atmosphere in the rear of the projectile, accelerating the velocity of the projectile, while at the same time the projectile is impeded by the resistance of the air in front of the same. Thus it will be seen that the slow-burning powder C gives not only a rotary motion to the projectile and thus insures the stability of flight acquired IOO by the ordinary riiling, but also causes the projectile to act more or less like a rocket and in a measure to compensate for the loss of the velocity due to the resistance of the air in front of the projectile, and even in some instances gives the projectile an accelerated motion after it leaves the gun.

The effect on the projectile of this slowY burning explosive C will depend in a measure upon the nature and the quantity of the explosive and the rapidity with which it burns. It will be obvious that this explosive should not be of such a character as to detonate in the gun or that the pressure would be of such a force as to burst the shell. Thus it will be seen that I provide a projectile adapted vfor use in smooth-bore guns which may be :tired from the said guns with far greater stability of light than has hitherto been obtained under similar conditions.

Smooth-bore guns are obviously inuch cheaper in construction, and since they are devoid of langles on the interior thereof are less liable to erosion and less likely to burst under the same conditions than are riied guns. Moreover, by having the projectile accelerated after it leaves the gun the pressure of the powder in the gun may be less for the saine ultimate speed of the projectile, or with the same pressure of the powder in the gun a higher speed :in the flight of the projectile may be obtained.

It will be obvious that various 'modifications of the herein-described invention may be made which can be used without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In an elongated projectile, the combination with a shell provided with separate front and rear powder-chambers, the rear powderchamber opening to the rear, of a plug provided with curved grooves therein, partlyv closing the rear powdenchamber, a frangible disk secu red to one end of said plug and normally closing the end of said grooves, and means 'l'or holding said plug in the shell, substantially as described.

2. In an elongated projectile, the combination with a shell provided with separate front and rear powder-chambers, the rear powderchamber opening to the rear, of a plug provided with curved grooves therein, partly closing the rear powder-chamber, a frangible disk secured to one end of said plug and normally closing the end of said grooves, and a slotted disk secured to the base of said shell, and to said plug, substantially as described.

3. An elongated projectile provided with a powder-chamber in the rear portion thereof and opening to the rear, a plug closing the rear end of said powder-chamber, and provided with curved grooves, similar to the grooves in riifling, opening from the front of the plug to the rear thereof, and serving as passages for the gases from said powder-charnber, with means for holding said plug against revolution in said projectile, substantially as described.

4. An elongated projectile provided with a powder-chamber for lthe bursting charge, and with a second powder-chamber in rear of the iirst and separated therefrom by a wall of metal, a plug closing the rear end of said -second powder chamber, and provided with curved grooves, similar to the grooves in riliing, opening from the front of the plug to the rear thereof, and serving as passages for the gases from said powder-chamber, with means for holding said plug against revolution in said projectile, substantially as described. y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 'in presence of two witnesses.

yWILLIAM u. BELL.

Vitnesses:

T. E. WATERS, ANDREW GLRYEE. 

